What is espresso? How it's made and why it tastes different

Espresso is a brew method that uses high pressure to push water through finely ground coffee. Invented in Italy at the turn of the 20th century and modernized there in the 40s, it’s a fast way to make concentrated coffee. While it can be more difficult to dial in than other brew methods, we can teach you how to make simple adjustments to make it taste delicious

How is espresso different from other brew methods?

To start, espresso is a brewing method. Just like French press, pour over, and automatic drip are different ways of making coffee, so is espresso. 

First of all, espresso is a small drink. There’s no exact measurement for how small, but if your drink is larger than a few ounces on its own, it’s hard to call it espresso.

Espresso is usually made quickly. While there’s no perfect time for a shot, we often recommend brewing in 20-30 seconds.

To brew coffee that quickly, we need a fine grind. Smaller grind particles create more surface area for the water to interact with, which helps speed up the brew.

Fine grinds also put up resistance, so that the highly-pressurized water made by an espresso machine doesn’t shoot through too quickly. That pressure is what sets an espresso machine apart from every other brew method.

Quick guide to defining espresso:

• Size: small–only a few ounces

• Speed: quick–usually under 30 seconds

• Grind size: fine–much finer than your pour over

• Pressure: high–9 bars (or barometric units) of pressure

What kind of coffee should you use for espresso?

While different roasters have different ideas about what kind of coffee beans and roasts make for good espresso, there isn’t anything that objectively makes certain beans “espresso beans” as opposed to “coffee beans.” If you see “espresso” on a bag, that just means a roaster developed it specifically to use as espresso. 

Your results will vary, but you can make espresso with any beans, whether they’re single origins or blends, the lightest light or the darkest dark roast. For light roasts, you might want to pull longer shots: more water will help those complex light roast flavors stretch out a bit and lower the risk of a sour shot

How to make your espresso taste good

Because espresso is so concentrated, every small change you make can lead to big differences in flavor. And while we’re happy to recommend general guidelines for grind size, time, and ratios, you’ll need to taste your espresso and make small adjustments yourself to really get it right.

Grind size is usually the first adjustment we make. Grinding finer gives the water more access to your dose of coffee while also slowing down the water, leading to more brewing time. Both of these things can lead to more particles getting pulled from your dose of coffee, which is good if your shots taste too sour, but can go overboard into bitterness.

Another thing you can change is the amount of water you’re using. If your flavors are too intense, whether too sour or too bitter, you might just prefer a weaker shot for those particular beans. Combine grinding coarser with letting the shot run a little longer.

Troubleshooting tips for common espresso problems

• Too sour: grind finer to extract more from the coffee

• Too bitter: grind coarser to extract less from the coffee

• Too watery: grind finer and stop the shot sooner

• Too intense: grind coarser and let the shot run longer

Can you make espresso with an Aeropress or Moka Pot?

There are a few brew methods that sometimes get called espresso, that don’t exactly fit our definition. And whether or not they qualify as “real espresso” only really matters in that any espresso brewing advice doesn't really apply to those brew methods.

The first of these is a moka pot, AKA a Bialetti or stovetop espresso maker. It definitely does use steam — making it not that dissimilar from a small version of an early 20th century espresso machine — but it doesn’t use quite enough pressure to create the same kind of thick, strong beverage as the espresso you get at your coffee shop.

An AeroPress is also sometimes called an espresso maker. In fact, it’s right on the box. An AeroPress does use some manual pressure, but even a very strong recipe doesn’t make coffee as strong as an espresso machine. Also, it doesn’t use nearly as much pressure.

Frequently asked questions

What is espresso made from?

Espresso is made from finely ground coffee, brewed quickly under high pressure. While some coffees might be marked as espresso roast, you can brew any coffee you like as espresso.

Why is espresso so strong?

Espresso is strong because you’re using less water but a similar amount of coffee to a regular drip coffee. The pressure of a real espresso machine allows us to extract that coffee with a small amount of water. Espresso often has the same amount of total caffeine to a cup of drip packed into a smaller drink. 

Is espresso just dark roast coffee?

No, espresso is a brew method and you can use any level of roast in it. Many specialty coffee roasters use medium roasts and even light roasts for espresso.

What is a double shot of espresso?

A double shot of espresso is actually a measure of how much ground coffee we’re using to brew. There aren’t official standards, but we call anything from 7 grams through the low teens a single shot, a 15-20 gram dose a double shot, and anything higher than that a triple.

The bottom line

Espresso is a way of quickly brewing concentrated coffee using a high pressure machine. It doesn’t mean any specific kind of coffee bean, it’s just a specific brew method. Take the Trade quiz to get matched with coffee for whatever kind of espresso you want to brew.